TR accountant accused of stealing $900K in tax refunds

Doreen Gentile, a Toms River accountant, was arrested Monday, accused of stealing $905,000 from client tax refunds and Social Security benefits, spending the money on jewelry and clothes, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
(Photo: Bloomberg)

A Toms River accountant was arrested Monday, accused of stealing $905,000 from client tax refunds and Social Security benefits, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

Doreen Gentile, 59, was arrested after authorities unsealed a grand jury indictment charging her with 14 counts of mail fraud, nine counts of forging endorsements on U.S Treasury checks, two counts of aggravated identity theft and two counts of filing false income tax returns.

According to the indictment, Gentile ran Toms River-based Doreen A. Gentile & Associates LLC, or DAG & Associates, working with clients throughout central and southern New Jersey. She prepared federal and state income tax returns and managed property in Salem County, authorities said.

Gentile’s scam included showing clients bogus results on tax returns, saying they had no tax or refund due, that they owed a minimal amount (usually less than $40), or that their refund was small when it actually was much larger, officials said.

Then, she prepared a second set of tax returns, signed without her clients’ permission, and went on to collect the full tax refund, which was mailed to the DAG & Associates post office box in Toms River, the indictment says. Ultimately, the checks were deposited into the DAG & Associates bank account without the clients’ knowledge.

Gentile also told some clients they had to pay various tax liabilities and then, after the clients paid, she would apply for the refund checks, forging the victims’ signatures and depositing the refunds into her own account, officials said.

In another instance, Gentile didn’t tell Social Security that one of her clients died in September 2005, so she continued to collect the dead person’s benefits, prosecutors say. The victim’s bank account was used for Gentile’s personal expenses at clothing and jewelry stores, officials said.

Gentile also did not report to the IRS the money she made on her scams, officials said.

Her 14 mail fraud counts alleged in the indictment each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The nine counts of forging endorsements on treasury checks of the United States and one count of theft of government funds each carry a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The two counts of filing false income tax returns each carry a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a $100,000 fine. The two counts of aggravated identity theft each carry a maximum potential consecutive sentence of two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, authorities said.